Active Duty
by WeBaNj
Summary: A newly recruited soldier faces the reality of war.


**I** awake to the sound of gunfire in the distance. I grab my boots and tie them well, and then grab my M16 Assault Rifle and head out of the bunker. As I walk out I spot my Sergeant cleaning his identical rifle. I walk in front of him and stand with my feet together and salute him until he salutes back.

"Hey Sarg."

"Hello Private, how was your first night?"

"Well the gunfire is a little distracting but I guess I'm used to it by now…" I say to him as he finishes with his rifle, and then sets it down and stands up and faces me.

"Good, we need every man at full strength and potential. There's a war to be fought. If one man is out of sync with the team, it can ruin the entire mission." He says to me while using his hands to explain himself. He then checks his watch and looks back up at me. "Sorry Private, I have to go make sure everything is set in place for the mission. Meet at the South Bunker at 1300 hours." He then begins to walk away. I hesitate to ask him my question, but I finally let it out.

"Wait Sarg., can I ask you something…?" he then turns back around and looks at me.

"Sure, what is it kid?"

"What's it like to you know…kill a man..?" I ask him as my head is facing the ground, and I'm staring at the floor.

"Well...Here's how I see it. The enemy is here for the same two reasons we are: To fight a war, and kill their enemies." He sounds like a school teacher.

"Out here, its kill, or be killed, a race to see who can pull the trigger first." I think I've read that out of a book somewhere. "Alright Private, I'm out of time." He quickly salutes me, and I do the same, and just like that, he's out of sight.

I check my watch; it's one of those heavy-duty waterproof ones. The time says 12:30 pm, and the date says 6/8/2014. I let out a loud sigh and begin to walk to the meeting bunker.

"Damn...Just to think that only 2 years ago I was in high school. But now I'm actually part of the United States Army. The only sad part is that being stationed here in the Middle East, is that I'm afraid to die…the cowards don't fight how I thought war would be like. My thoughts of war are that you go in, shoot, and get things done. But these fuckers blow them selves up, and blow up cars and other bullshit." I reach the exit of my bunker and walk outside and start walking across the roads. "Just like the movies." I say to myself.

I finally arrive at the meeting bunker, I walk in and see other Privates and Officers sitting around and conversing. I see my Sergeant and I walk by and salute him, and the other officers. After a few minutes of exchanging small talk, one of the head officers shouts.

"Alright everyone! Listen up!" Everyone then stands up and turns their attention toward the Officer.

"As most of you know, this war is not going our way. We are losing too many men, and we're not killing enough of those bastards. It seems that our strategy isn't working. Our enemies are flanking us, and killing our men. We cannot afford any more men. It's bad enough that this war isn't supported. No one wants to sign up for the armed forces anymore. We are very aware that our forces are outnumbered." Is this guy ever gonna shut up? "Our plan is t-"

He is cut off by the sound of an explosion that sounds very close to our bunker. Everyone is still and staring at each other. Just when we though it was safe the bunker door blows open and I see a smoke grenade tossed on. The soldiers standing by the door are gassed and don't know what to do.

I'm terrified and don't know what the hell to do. So I pull my M16 into my arms, and click off the safety. When the first smoke grenade smoke begins to drift away, another one is tossed in and I hear yelling.

"Kill them all!!" Shit, was that the enemy?

Fuck, I get behind cover and the enemy starts pouring in. They are in combat camouflage uniforms, similar to ours, but a different design.

I aim my gun…but I freeze up. "Fuck! Fuck! FUCK!" I scream to myself, I'm too scared to shoot. I watch as my comrades fight back, and watch as some of them get shot down, or stabbed. Fuck this, I gotta help them.

"Aggghhhh!" I'm screaming out loud as I shoot the enemy. One, Two, Three, that's three kills for me. My adrenaline is pumping out of control. I feel like a maniac just killing people.

One of the enemies comes running in with a big jacket on. I watch as he runs into a group of out soldiers and blows himself to hell. The explosion kills around 12 men. We're definitely outnumbered now.

I just keep firing and hitting my target. This feels just like one of the first person video games. I pull the trigger again, but I hear a click this time. Shit, time to reload. I look down at my gun; hit the button to release the clip, and it falls to the ground. I look down at my tactical vest, open up a pocket and pull out another clip and put it back in. Good, I hear a click and I scream, aim, and fire once again.

God, it's been at least fifteen minutes of straight combat. My heart is beating so fast, and I'm breathing so damn heavy. I turn to see one of my comrades fighting next to me. "Hey! Aim for the legs to bring them down, and then finish them off." He says to me. Maybe it will work.

Shit! I just remembered something. I look down to see two hand grenades on a clip on my vest. Lucky fucking me, there's a group of those bastards across the room. I pull the pin and get that damn thing off so fast. I watch as it flies through the air and hits the floor. I duck down and hear the explosion, and I see shrapnel fly by.

I get back into a crouching position behind my barrier. I look up and there are only a few fuckers left. I hear walking behind me and I turn my head and see one of them running up behind me. I try to shoot him, but all I hear is clicking. I see a knife in his hand. Fuck! Am I gonna die? Maybe it will be fast and painless…hopefully.


End file.
